Malta and international press digest

The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:

The Times leads with the separate incidents which took the lives of two young women yesterday, a story also carried prominently in all the other newspapers.

In other stories, The Malta Independent quotes the Prime Minister as saying that a proposal for an airstrip in Gozo is being evaluated.

In-Nazzjon reports Dr Gonzi as saying that MEPA must be consistent with everyone and win the people's confidence

l-orizzont says the Prime Minister accused the GWU of attempting to sabotage the pre-budget talks.

In another story, l-orizzont says farmers and consumers are losing out as the Maltese product is not reaching shops with a fair price.

The Press in Britain...

The Daily Telegraph reports that the Conservatives have rounded on the Prime Minister's failure to equip the British army, accusing him of 'the ultimate dereliction of duty' in his handling of the Afghanistan conflict.

Metro reports that three of the recent soldiers to have died in Afghanistan were just 18 years old.

The Daily Mirror also focuses on the most recently named soldiers to have lost their lives in Afghanistan, calling them a "band of brothers".

The Guardian leads with an exclusive poll showing that despite the recent losses public support for the war in Afghanistan remains firm.

The Times claims that the Prime Minister will try to rally public support for the Afghan conflict as army generals were "rebuffed in their plea for more Helmand forces".

The Daily Mail says that a number of senior soldiers have launched an attack on Gordon Brown over his handling of the war in Afghanistan.

The Daily Express says that energy bills are set to rise by more than £200 a month because of 'green' taxes.

The Daily Star says that La Toya Jackson has named the people she alleges are responsible for the death of her brother Michael.

And elsewhere...

Baltic Times leads with 53-year-old Dalia Grybauskaite's swearing-in as Lithuania's first female president after winning 69 per cent of the vote in May. .

Kathemerini reports that Greek police have used bulldozers to completely clear a sprawling migrant camp that had been in place in the port town of Patras for over a decade. Hundreds of mainly Afghan immigrants had been living there in squalid conditions as they waited to try to sneak on to ferries bound for Italy.

Times of India reports that 26 women drowned and eight others are still missing when two boats capsized in western India as passengers panicked after seeing a bolt of lightning. Rescuers saved four passengers and two crew.

La Prensa says Honduran authorities lifted a curfew imposed since the ousting of President Manuel Zelaya two weeks ago, a sign the interim government is trying to restore normality in the crisis-gripped country.

Iran's state-run Press-TV have shown the return to Teheran of five Iranian officials who were held in Iraq for more than two years by US forces on suspicion of aiding local Shiite militants. They were met at the airport by a cheering crowd.

Asia Observer reports that an Italian humanitarian aid worker for the Red Cross has been found unharmed after spending six months in captivity with an Islamist militant group in the Philippines.

Asia Times says China's top nuclear envoy has arrived in South Korea as part of diplomatic efforts to revive the stalled talks on ending North Korea's nuclear programme.

USA Today reports that thunderstorms have forced NASA to delay Sunday evening's launch of space shuttle Endeavour.

According to Le Parisien, Jewish groups have demanded a retrial for members of a Paris gang called the "Barbarians" who tortured a Jewish youth to death, charging that key murder accomplices were let off too lightly.

China Daily reports an explosion at a chemical factory raising tension in China's Urumqi city, one week after unrest between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese left more than 180 people dead.

The Daily Telegraph of Australia says a recent survey of Australian workers shows butchers as the most friendly and contented. Thirty per cent of consumers perceived butchers as happy with their job, a figure confirmed by 76 per cent of butchers themselves who reported feeling healthier, laughing more at work and having more sex than other workers interviewed.